As we approach the 2022 Dopey challenge, I decided that it was time at last to talk about an experience of mine that predates this running blog: The 2017 Dopey Challenge. For those of you that are not familiar with the Dopey Challenge, it is a RunDisney event where runners complete 48.6 miles over the course of 4 days, by completing a 5k on Thursday, a 10k on Friday, a Half marathon on Saturday, and a full marathon on Sunday.
I know, it’s a little insane – or at the very least, DOPEY.
I took on the Dopey challenge in 2017 with my then-boyfriend, now husband, Dennis. You see, once upon a time I was someone who would have laughed at the idea of running a race of any distance – in fact, when friends ran races before 2015 I had no interest in even considering lacing up a pair of running shoes – who needs $100 sneakers anyway, I thought the whole thing was insane.
I eventually came around to the idea that this could be something fun – and signed up to complete the 2016 Disney Princess Half marathon with my cousin Ryan, as my family had a trip to Florida planned that coincided with the dates anyway. Once I crossed that finish line I couldn’t wait to do it again, and in the summer of 2016 we started talking about heading to Florida for marathon weekend in 2017, I toyed with the idea of running my first marathon.
We started talking about signing up for the Dopey challenge. At first, I seriously resisted but over time started thinking “well, I have almost a year to train, and if I am going to go all the way to Florida for a race I may as well run all of they races they’re offering….”
So, when registration day rolled around I found myself not only registering for my first marathon, but clicking on that Dopey Challenge option.
I essentially started training right away, using Hal Higdon’s Dopey Challenge plan. Throughout the summer Dennis and I logged miles together. My Dad biked along with me on many solo runs, where I made sure I was logging every mile that my training plan assigned. We completed races together – Dennis and I even got engaged at one! As the seasons changed and fall rolled around, Dennis and I ran the Run Rock and Roll half marathon in Philadelphia, so that he would have a proof of time to submit to RunDisney. After the half school picked up for Dennis– who was still in college at the time – and I started logging more and more miles with Dad biking along. I honestly would not have made it through that training cycle without him. I also started running with the Merrick Bicycles Tri team that fall, and made friends with runners like who were down for a long, cold weekend run with lots of miles. When it got too cold for dad to bike outside, members of the tri team often agreed to tag along on long runs, even though they weren’t marathon training at the time. I remember logging my last long run – my first 20 miler – with two guys from the tri team with weekend before Christmas, and just being so grateful for my amazing team.
Soon enough it was January, and it was time to head to Florida for Marathon weekend. I feel like I packed every piece of running gear that I owned, and I had even headed to the thrift store and purchased throw away layers in case of chilly race mornings. We arrived Tuesday night, spending our first night at the Caribbean beach resort, before moving into Saratoga springs for the rest of the trip. After we swapped rooms on Wednesday, spent some time in the parks before eventually heading to the race expo. I went jacket crazy that year, in part because it was my first marathon – by the end of the weekend I had purchased three jackets: the preorder jacket, the dopey challenge jacket, and one of the marathon jackets.
We had assembled costumes for the various races, but were all at different training levels, so as we prepared the night before the first race, we were uncertain how much we would all run together over the weekend. I had put a lot of hours and early morning wakeups into training for the dopey challenge, and wanted to really give it my all.
For the 5k we were all planning to stick together – it was the start of the challenge, and we needed to be conservative with our paces. We headed to the buses together, all dressed up as characters from the lion king. I had found a vintage Simba hat, and then made character hats for the rest of the group to wear. The icing on the cake was that Dennis surprised everyone by adding a hula skirt to his Timon costume. As we waited for the race to start we layered up with trash bags to keep warm, as it was a little cold that morning. Once the race got moving, we all enjoyed a 5k around Epcot together, and checked off the first 3.1 miles of our challenge. We headed into the parks after freshening up, and had an easy day wandering around Magic Kingdom.
Next up was the 10k, where Dennis and I had our own Wall-E and Eve costumes. It was a little harder to wake up on morning two, but it was a warmer outside that morning which was some small consolation. We all started the race together, and were able to snap some photos together in the backstage areas of Epcot and on the boardwalk, as the sun came up. As Den and I ran the last mile together, we even broke into a full sprint as we raced for the finish line – to this day, neither one of us is really sure who won. After the race we all met up and headed back to the hotel together, where we ate breakfast in the food court. Dennis and I headed to Epcot and got lunch in Via Nappoli, for a full carb-loading feast.
We had been regularly checking the forecast for Saturday morning, as rain was being predicted. When we headed back to the hotel on Friday night, we went to the hot tub to relax before another day of running. We chatted with other runners, and while we were there RunDisney sent out an update: The half marathon was cancelled due to thunderstorms.
I was devastated. All of the back to back long runs, the hours spent training to be prepared for dopey, were they for nothing? I saw others reacting to the news – many people were relieved because they were undertrained, and now they would be getting a $180 disney gift card, and not have to run 13.1 miles. But it was about more than that to me… so, Greg and I, being the crazy runners of the group, made a pact – we were going to get in our 13.1 miles, so that we would have ran 48.6 miles over four days, even if it meant running loops around the resort.
I can safely say I have seen every path at Saratoga Springs resort in walt Disney world. We ran between all of the buildings, over to Disney springs, passed the pool, around the dining area, and passed every carousel. About half way through our run the promised rain began, and it was almost a relief when the humidity broke. We made our own aid stations, with Dennis bringing us fuel and water when we ran by the room. When we completed our 13.1 miles, I took the rubber luggage tag that RunDisney had given us – it was supposed to be the 20th anniversary of the half marathon – and clipped it to my pin lanyard, and declared it my medal. So, Friday held 18.3 miles instead of 6.2, but I would still have my 48.6 miles by the end of the weekend.
When the race was cancelled, Disney offered runners several options to refund their registration – they could either receive a $180 Disney gift card, 2-two day park hopper tickets, or they could run the marathon in place of the half. Since we had annual passes and were already running the marathon, we took the Disney gift cards. Dennis and I were completing the castaway cay challenge after the marathon, so we wanted to pick up our gift cards rather than wait for them to come in our email, that way we could use them on the cruise. So, on Saturday we slept in, and through the thunderstorm that had derailed our half marathon, and headed back to ESPN worldwide sports for another visit to the race expo. It was raining at this point, and the expo was packed. We had to park in a field near the expo, and Disney had shuttle buses running to bring us to the main entrance. Once we got into ESPN, it was clear that we were not the only runners wanting to pick up our refunds and medals. The lines were so long that they weaved outside of buildings and around the sport fields. As we waited, it started raining. Thankfully, we were almost in the building at that point, so we were not stuck outside for too long.
Once we got into the building picking up the gift cards and medals was the same process as bib pickup. Wait in line, show your ID, and get issued your items. We headed back to the car once we had our stuff, and were once again watching the weather in anticipation of the following morning’s race: it was going to be cold. Like, winter in New York cold! They were estimating a temperature of 28 degrees at the start, with a wind chill that would bring the real feel temperature into the teens – yikes! I had packed my cold running gear, but the rest of my group was in need of throwaway layers. So, to make sure everyone stayed warm we headed to Walmart. We scoured the store for gloves, but apparently we were not the first ones to have this idea… all we could find were children sized gloves, which were far too little for the guys hands, so we wound up buying a pack of socks to keep their hands warm at the start. We also couldn’t find sweatpants for the guys, so they wound up with women’s sizes for those. Also in short supply were sweatshirts, with only the “3XL” size remaining. But it would do the job to keep them a little warmer in the morning. We headed to Disney springs after Walmart, where I picked up a heavier pair of gloves at the underarmor store, just in case it stayed cold throughout the race – the pair I had packed were on the lighter side.
I spent the night before my first marathon stressing over whether I was going to be too cold or too warm during the race, flip flopping about what I was going to wear at least a dozen times. I was also nervous about the race itself, as I was planning on running it alone, since no one else had trained for mileage beyond a half, and since it was my first full I wanted to see what I was capable of.
The next mornings our alarms once again went off too early. Once we were ready we loaded onto the bus and headed for the start area.
Den and I split up into our own corrals as we Hiheaded for the start line. By the time I got to my corral the race was just about to get going. As a result of the cold temperatures, they weren’t waiting long between releasing corrals and I was on my way just after 6 am.
I like to break the WDW Marathon down into segments:
The run from the start to the magic kingdom
Magic kingdom to animal kingdom
Animal kingdom to ESPN
ESPN wide world of sports
ESPN to the Hollywood studios
Hollywood studios into Epcot
Epcot to the finish
For me, breaking it down like this really helps me to appreciate each step of the journey, and to enjoy the mile that I am in.
As I ran to magic kingdom I spotted the entrance sign – it was my first time seeing it in the dark, and it was MAGICAL! It gave me exactly the boost I needed. By the time I got to magic kingdom, the sun was just starting to come up. I ran through the park with a huge smile on my face, and it was warming up already – it would wind up being in the 40s-50s for most of the race.
Once I was through magic kingdom, the next step was to make it to animal kingdom- the half way point would be right after that park. When I got to the back stage entrance, there was a petting zoo! Did I stop to pet a bunny? OF COURSE! It was the little things like this that make me feel the magic of Disney. We also had a banana stop at mile 12. Animal kingdom flew by, and on my way out I stopped for a photo with the haunted mansion grave diggers.
The highways between animal kingdom and ESPN are somewhat brutal, as they just feel like they’re dragging on forever, especially in the out and back sections. My parents were cheering me on from NY, texting me encouragements as I ran. When I did get to ESPN, I deemed it my least favorite part of the course. We ran through various sporting fields, it was crowded, and just felt like we were winding in circles. But, when we finally exited, there were strangers with candy and I happily accepted a twizzler.
Another long stretch of highway eventually lead me to Hollywood studios, where we entered the park through the fantasmic area. Right before we got to the tower of terror they had an official candy station, and I picked up some more goodies to help carry me the rest of the way to the finish line. My emotions were running high by the time I got to Hollywood studios – I was already at mile 24 – I was going to finish this thing, and then I would be a marathoner!
By the time I left Hollywood studios it was just over a mile to the finish line. When I entered Epcot it was already opened for the day, and cones separated runners from park-goers. I had a smile plastered onto my face, and even stopped for a few characters as I made my way around world showcase. All my hard work had paid off, this was really happening. I ran passed spaceship earth, turned the corner, and heard the gospel choir singing. One more turn, and I spotted the finish line. I could do this. I ran through the finish line, hands held high, and crossed that line. I had done it. I was a marathoner. I burst into tears – full, sobbing heaving tears. A volunteer at the finish line pulled me into a hug and congratulated me. I needed that hug! I started moving forward, collected my metals, and had my finisher photo taken. In the photo my face is literally swollen from crying as I finished the race. When I began that 26.2 mile journey I didn’t know if I would make it to the finish, but by the end I was only wondering when I could do it again.
I sat in the finishers area for a little while, checking on where the rest of my group were. They all still had miles ahead of them, so I decided to head back to the room and shower since it was cold at the finish line. Eventually they all filtered into the room, medals strung around their necks, and Dennis proclaimed “I am never doing that again!”
What can I say, we are very different people.
The next morning Dennis and packed up our things, and got ride to the Port Canaveral cruise terminal. We were boarding the Disney Dream, for a short cruise that would include one last running challenge – the castaway cay 5k. I was looking forward to just relaxing and laying around doing nothing for a few days after all those miles. We ate lots of delicious foods, I got my medals signed by the characters that are on them, and I even got a photo with Dopey.
The morning of the Castaway Cay 5k challengers runners had to be off of the boat before the rest of the cruisers. It was a cold morning on the island, and I was glad that I brought along the mylar blanket that they gave out at the end of the marathon. Dennis and I dressed up as the aliens from toy story – the costumes that we had all intended to wear for the half marathon. I decided not to bring my phone along for this race, since it wouldn’t work on the island anyway, so I don’t have any photos from the race, since they use the cruise line photographers at character stops. I was particularly bummed out by this, because chip and dale were out dressed up as the rescue rangers, which was one of my favorite shows as a kid.
Dennis and I started the race together, but he eventually needed to stop running due to ankle pain. So we agreed to meet at the finish line. After the race we re-boarded the ship, took a quick nap, and then spent the rest of the day hanging out on the beach.
Ok guys, I’m done rambling on. I enjoyed the dopey challenge so much that I later decided to complete the goofy challenge in 2019, the 2020 dopey challenge, and soon I’ll be taking on the 2022 Dopey challenge. At the end of the day, I really believe runners of all levels can enjoy the Dopey challenge, especially if they embrace the magic of all those Disney miles.